“Occupy Wall Street” media wrap-up #3 : Long Island Wins

Media Detail

“Occupy Wall Street” media wrap-up #3: Written October 27, 2011 by Omar Henriquez, Voices of NY

As Occupy Wall Street protests continue, news coverage in the ethnic and community media extends into more thoughtful, personal, and focused reporting. It’s no longer just covering a demonstration, it’s also about the specific people and groups involved and what their presence represents.

People of color and immigrants are coming to the Occupy Wall Street encampment in Zuccotti Park in greater numbers, reports Feet in 2 Worlds, drawn by such grassroots organizations as South Asians for Justice, Bayan USA and the OWS People of Color caucus.

Also growing, reports Mariano Silva of The Indypendent, is the relationship between OWS and organized labor, as difficulties faced by the working class come into light at the protests.

Yet, why are there nonetheless not so many Blacks and Latinos at the demonstrations? The Amsterdam News considers possible reasons.

To encourage a minority presence, Kanene Holder formed the People of Color Working Group, which came after racial incidents surfaced in NY and Philly. She told the Amsterdam News that the group pushes for solidarity and has the same goals as the rest of the movement itself.

For Long Island activist Omar Henriquez, it gets personal as he visits the protests. He remembers his own experiences in the area, and his own fight for the rights of the workers in the clean-up effort after 9/11. From Long Island Wins.

Meanwhile, the Downtown Express and DNAinfo look at how the protests have affected the police: in the former, the injuries and criticisms they’ve received; in the latter, how relocating officers to Zuccotti Park leaves Manhattan neighborhoods with limited police presence.

The Downtown Express reports on the legal side: Volunteers for the National Lawyers Guild have been looking on in their bright green caps, monitoring both police and demonstrators to see who could be violating the law. As one of the law student volunteers said, “Whatever happens, there’s a neutral witness.” They also provide legal advice at OWS.

While DNAinfo looks at healthcare at OWS: A volunteer medical team provides health services, often to people who have not had care in years because they do not have insurance and cannot afford it. Advocates and demonstrators will march to the former site of St. Vincent’s hospital to protest the state of healthcare and the healthcare industry.

And finally, as different communities join OWS, the NY Carib News asks, “Will the Caribbean be next with people taking to the streets?”

Read our first and second media wrap-ups.